The middle of July normally sees the first combine harvesters rolling and more tractors and machinery on the roads, writes Farmer Giles.

It isn’t easy to gather in crops covering nearly half the arable land area of the United Kingdom in a matter of weeks. Yes, it may influence traffic a little and we’ve all been stuck behind a tractor but most farmers do adopt the recommended procedure and let traffic through if a safe, convenient place can be found.

Some don’t, but you’ll always get a minority like that in all walks of life.

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From personal experience it can be tricky. You pull in to let traffic past, but then almost as quickly you have more cars behind you. It’s unavoidable when you’re only travelling 20-something miles per hour. If we all adopt a bit of give and take and a little tolerance and think safety first then all will be fine.

The folks in these tractors are the ones who look after your beautiful countryside and feed you. They support the UK’s largest manufacturing industry, food and drink, which employs nearly four million people. No matter who you are, you will always need a farmer three times a day.

Farming’s actually an ageing industry with the average age of a UK farmer now at 59, but the signs are good for the next generation. Our colleges and university courses are full with eager, enthusiastic students, not just hoping for careers in farming, but in all sorts of jobs surrounding and supporting our industry.

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In a couple of weeks’ time you will see the harvest season generally starting, with gathering in of winter-planted barley crops.

These will have been grown for the brewing industry, feed for animals and to a lesser degree as a cereal ingredient in a wide variety of foods, not to mention the straw which is used for animal and pet bedding, with secondary uses of incineration to generate power, algae control in still water plus applications in the building industry.

The barley harvest overlaps with oilseed rape, often grown for cooking oils, bio-fuels, animal feeds, and has numerous uses in paints and lubricants.

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The third of our major crops harvested by combine and by area the most widely grown crop is wheat. It is a major staple in bread, biscuits, cereals, pasta, pizza, flour and pastry.

There are many more crops harvested by combine such as linseed, peas, beans, flax, soya, quinoa, millet, lupins, maize, borage, rye, sunflowers, oats plus many more creating the raw materials to feed the nation and the world, and a myriad of other by-products.

We all need feeding, so whether you’re a meat eater, vegetarian or vegan, let’s just try to remember to offer a little give and take on the roads while this important harvest is carried out so that we can all be safe out there.